Friday, December 26, 2008

Merry Christmas! We had a lovely day. We opened presents with my parents, sister and Grandma in the morning, then we went to my mom’s parents house and had lunch and presents with her family and then finally we went to my sister-in-law’s house for festivities with Michael’s family. It was a very long day and we were quite tired when it was over, but it was worth it. Hopefully next year we will have two Ethiopian babes to spoil! My sister made the most amazing book about Project 8256 and all of the people who are helping to bring our kids home. It was the best present and something we will treasure forever.

I have been so sick with a cold or something. I woke up in the middle of the night with, what I am assuming, is pinkeye!!! My eyes are red and a little tender, so I don’t want to put my contacts in. Unfortunately, the only glasses I have are the ones I got during my sophomore year of high school – fourteen years ago. They are nothing I would ever wear out in public. This should be fun….

In adoption news, all of our paperwork for our dossier has been authenticated! I just checked the mail and…….WE RECEIVED OUR APPROVAL FROM CIS!!!!! We will have it notarized on Monday and send it off to Kate and once she has it authenticated, we will be on the waiting list. I was writing this blog and started typing that we were waiting on it and decided to check the mail and there it was! Merry Christmas to us!!!

So, over a month ago Heidi tagged me and I am just now getting to it. So, here are seven random things about me…

1. I am a little leery of dogs. Okay I am pretty much scared of dogs. I panic when a big dog is near me and even get a little jumpy when small dogs lick, bark and jump. I am not like one of those people you used to see on Jerry Springer or Maury Povich who runs around the room screaming if a canine gets within 100 feet of them, but dogs are not my best friend. I think this fear stems from a childhood incident. I was walking home from a neighbor’s house when I was 4 or 5 and a dog ran up to me and knocked me down and started licking me. I was terrified and then swelled up from the dog’s saliva. Fun times.

2. I went through a phase in high school when I wanted to be a secret service agent. I watched In the Line of Fire and loved the scene where they secured the hotel room before the President’s arrival. This was my basis for temporarily choosing this career path. I don’t think I would have liked taking a bullet. Fast forward about 10 years and I worked as the event coordinator for a large performing arts facility and VP Cheney was attending an event. I was given a keychain from one of the agents, which I kept until it fell apart. I sometimes liked to pretend that I had an ‘in’ or was an agent myself.

3. I am allergic to Actifed. It made me go temporarily blind when I was four. My mom gave me a dose and I said “Mommy, I can’t see”. I have never tried it since.

5. I (heart) crime dramas…A LOT. Law and Order (all of them), CSI (all of them), Numbers, NCIS, etc. I have them on constantly at home. It is a nice background noise for me when I am working.

6. I am Type 1 Diabetic. I was diagnosed with ‘juvenile diabetes’ when I was 20. I wear an insulin pump, which inserts into my stomach through a cannula (kind of like a catheter). I change the location every 3-4 days. Even though the pump sometimes feels like wearing my pancreas on the outside of my body or being hooked up to life support, it really does give me a lot more freedom.

7. I am a project junkie. I can throw myself into a project at home or for our business and be completely consumed by it. I can spend days and days focused on nothing else. I don’t have to sleep that much, just work. It drives my family crazy. Sometimes I wish I wouldn’t have quit gymnastics when I was younger. I have students who are very talented gymnasts and they train everyday for several hours. I think I would have loved that. The commitment and focus that takes….but then I remember that I am not very athletic and realize I am better off teaching music.

I am supposed to tag seven people, but only know two people who have yet to be tagged. I will tag:

Monday, December 8, 2008

Well, it has been too long since I have blogged. We have finished collecting all of the documents for our dossier and Kate with KBS Dossiers is getting everything authenticated. We had our fingerprint appointment on November 25. We waited about 9 weeks after approval to receive the letter with our appointment date. We are now waiting for approval from CIS and once we have it and our dossier is complete, we will be on the waiting list! We can’t wait to get there. I hope all is well with everyone else.

Friday, August 29, 2008

Today we received the email we have been waiting for. We have been officially approved by Gladney to adopt! We had our homestudy about five weeks ago and it went really well. Andrea was very sweet. I really wasn't as nervous as I thought I would be. It was no big deal, which is what I had heard. So, now we must continue to work on our dossier. We hope to be on the waiting list by mid to late October.

So, now for the big announcement.... WE ARE ADOPTING SIBLINGS! We had been going back and forth trying to decide what would be best for our family. We decided that adopting siblings would be best for our children and family as a whole. We have been approved to adopt two children under the age of four, however we have requested that they be under the age of three. We are very excited about this decision. We know it will be a huge adjustment, but it will come with so many blessings.

Friday, July 4, 2008

Happy 4th of July! I hope you all are enjoying your day. We are still moving steadily along in the paperwork process. After our students finished camp yesterday, Michael and I spent the rest of the day working on adoption stuff. We really got a lot done. Here are the things we can now check off our list:

1. Passport photos taken

2. Passport applications submitted (by the way they actually take your birth certificates and will mail them back to you when they are done with them. Luckily we already submitted everything that required a copy of our BC)

3. Bank letter written and notarized

4. Child abuse check notarized and submitted

5. Money orders for FBI clearance

6. Fingerprints for FBI clearance - okay I have to pause for a moment for a small vent/concern. We went to the police station and they asked to see one of our ID's when we paid for the fingerprint cards. She told us they would ask for both of our ID's when we had our fingerprints taken. So, we went back with the officer and he began getting everything ready and I asked if he needed to see our ID's and he said NO. That's right, NO. WHAT? ARE YOU KIDDING ME? In the world of identity theft, etc. this did not set well with Michael and I. I am sure this does not happen everywhere, but seriously!

7. Went to FedEx and sent off the FBI Clearance along with a return envelope for them to send it back to us.

8. Collected all of our reference letters

9. Went to the doctor's office and had my arm read. They did a TB test on Tuesday, along with all of the other blood work required for the Dossier. I had to go back and have them look at my arm to prove I didn't have TB. What happens to your arm if you do? I felt like they were reading my palm or something.

So, we really accomplished a lot. We ran out of time, so we weren't able to mail group three of the application. I will do that tomorrow. We are still lacking a few things from that group, but we will hopefully have it all in by the end of next week.

Sunday, June 29, 2008

To say it has been a while would be an understatement. It has been over two months since I have blogged. The past months have been very full. Things are finally really moving on the adoption front. I feel really horrible, however. After we filled out the short application with Gladney they sent us the BIG-THREE-PART application. They sent this to us on March 20. I did not have a moment to begin working on it until June. That's right, it took me three months to the day to send in the first part of the application.

So, we have now sent in two of the three parts and soon we should be receiving a call to set up our home study! It is really starting to feel real. Michael and I are actually so glad we waited three months to begin the paperchase. We needed that time to decide what was best for our family and make some decisions about our adoption. We began this process thinking our child would be a baby (the younger the better). After praying and much discussion, our hearts have changed. Stay tuned...

I hope everyone is having a great summer. I will leave you with an ever-so-cute picture of my nephew, Aidan. We just finished two of our eight weeks of performing arts summer camps. He has been walking around our academy in his tap shoes all summer long. Cheryl managed to get him to pose for this pic. A true performer!

Monday, April 21, 2008

Whew. Things sure have been busy. We are getting ready for a HUGE garage sale. We have been busily collecting donations from our friends and family for the sale. We hope to raise a good portion of our adoption expenses from the garage sale. I L-O-V-E having garage sales and this one is going to be good. We have collected donations from over 30 families. We have a great variety of items. We are doing a three day sale, which I have never done. We have always just done a Friday/Saturday sale, so this will be new. Everyone has been so generous and I think they have loved having a great reason for getting rid of things in their home. So, please think of us this Thursday-Saturday and pray that it doesn't rain and is very successful.

We have also been very busy with our performing arts academy. Our students are getting ready for their spring production of Seussical. For those who don't know, Seussical is a musical based on over 15 of Dr. Seuss' books. Many of our students stayed after a long rehearsal to help work on the set. They did a lot of painting. I would show you lots of cute pics, but I don't want to put pics of the kids on my blog, for obvious reasons. However, you can see my 2 1/2 year old nephew hard at work on the set. He was so excited about painting. He is a true child of the theatre hard at work...

We also went to a wedding a little over a week ago. The bride is a college friend of Michael's. A lot of his friends were there. They came from all over the country. They are all musical theatre people and busy performing, so it was great they were able to make it. Here are a few pics...

Brett and Jenny (Brett is one of Michael's closest friends.)

Us. Taking a short pause from the craziness of our life.

Michael and friends.

Stephanie and I. (Stephanie is my sister-in-law's sister. We share Aidan and Lilly as our wonderful nephew and niece! She also went to school with Michael)

Wednesday, April 2, 2008

The following post was taken, with permission, from another blog. Erin and her husband have 11 wonderful children. They just came home from Ethiopia with their last child, Solomon. He was adopted from AHOPE! If you ever ask the question "Why adoption?", this is why...

I have been thinking a lot about kids lately... kids who don't have moms (and dads)... kids waiting for moms, and what life is like for kids who do not have parents. I have been thinking about the transformation that occurs when a child realizes he has a mom, a dad, a family...security, love and somewhere to belong.

With some of our kids, that "realization" that they have a Mom and a family, that they have someone to belong to, someone to watch over them, someone to care for them and someone to love them, has been gradual. With some of our kids, there has been this "a ha!" moment, where you could just see that they "got it".

There was baby Maggie... almost four months old... laying on the bed in our hotel in Vietnam on our first full day together (I had been visiting her for days at the hospital before this point). Before her hospitalization she had lived in a government orphanage where the babies had their names written on their legs in black magic marker so they could be told apart, and got very very little personal attention. She didn't cry when she was hungry or when she wanted something. She was quiet and tiny, but I could tell she loved being held and loved the attention I was giving her.

I walked away from the bed where she was laying to get a bottle for her, and she made this teeny tiny pitiful (feeble attempt at a) cry, and I rushed over and picked her up and offered her the bottle. She got this look of amazement on her face with a little smile that seemed to say, "Holy cow! You mean that crying thing WORKS with you??" and after that she did not want anyone but me and always wanted me close. She got it. I was there for her. I was her mom.

With Mercy, she was nine years old. She had had a mom before, who did not value or respect her role as a mom. Mercy knew neglect and abuse and loss. Despite that, she came to us with an open heart and a surprising amount of trust. At one point during our first week, Des needed her hair washed (and Mercy had been the one to care for Des up until that point, even though she was only three years older). Mercy told Des to go into the bathroom so she could wash her hair, and I gently told Mercy that I could wash Des's hair, and reminded her that that was the kind of thing a Mom should do. The social worker had warned us that "letting go" of being the caregiver of Des might be hard for Mercy and we might have some power struggles over it... but Mercy looked at me and looked at Des and looked back at me and said, "You wash all the other little kids... You would wash Des's hair too?" and I said, "Yes". And she said, "And then what would I do?" and I said, "Well, you could go play." And she looked at Des again and then back at me, and then she got this huge smile on her face, and you could almost SEE her letting go of the responsibility of caring for her little sister. She ran over and gave me a hug, and then took off to play. She got it. I was there for her and for her sister. I was their mom.

With Solomon, that moment came when we left AHOPE for the second time together. We had spent two days together, and then we had gone back to AHOPE to visit. As we walked through the gate and the kids called out his name and came running to say hi to him, he sat in my arms with huge, silent tears running down his cheeks. He would not make eye contact with anyone (including me, the kids and the nannies) and just stared ahead with this heartbreaking acceptance of the fact that he thought he was being left. Again. It hurt me so much that he had come to accept this from life... that nice people came and went, but he did not truly belong to any of them. I couldn't imagine how his little heart felt and how he had endured all that he had already. I comforted him and held him close and told him over and over again in his ear that I would never, never, never leave him.

He started to relax a little the longer we were there and I stayed with him, but he was not his usual self. And then it happened. I put him in the sling, we waved good-bye, went back out through the gate and headed back up the road towards the hotel for some lunch. He got this HUGE grin on his face, and was bouncing up and down in the sling laughing, and then grabbing my face and kissing it over and over as we walked. He was so happy and joyful. He got it. He was not going to be left again. I was HIS. He was mine. I was his Mom.

Since then I have watched him blossom with love. I have watched him learn how to expect and look forward to being held often, comforted when he cries, rocked to sleep, having his needs met, getting individual attention and being smothered in hugs and kisses often. As I crawled into bed last night, a few hours after I had put him down to sleep, his little body turned towards me, and without waking up, he put his arm on me, snuggled in close and let out a content sigh.All kids deserve that knowledge, that peace and that comfort. All kids deserve to know that they are loved and that they belong to someone.

I believe with all my heart that our Heavenly Father did not send us down here to go at life alone, to worry about ourselves and to focus our lives on material and trivial things. I believe with all my heart that we are meant to live in families... mothers, fathers and children together, focusing our lives on loving, enjoying and serving each other.

We have several reasons to believe that Solomon most likely spent very little (if any) time with his first mother. And yet even after multiple changes in caregivers and "homes", multiple losses and lots of suffering without a mom to comfort him, he KNEW what a Mom was for from our very first days together. His heart and soul reached out to mine and grabbed on firmly. He knew that he wanted a mom. He knew that hugs, kisses and rock-a-byes were something he wanted, deserved and needed. The other kids we met in Ethiopia knew it too. They knew that they belonged with parents. They knew that something big was missing from their lives.

My heart rejoices for my kids and others that have had their lives changed so drastically...who were once alone, and now live with love, security and family. Watching Solomon over the past few weeks has reminded me of what an incredible miracle adoption is.

And at the same time, my heart aches for the so very many kids who are living life alone right now. . Even the very best orphanage is no comparison to a home and family. It is wrong that these kids must wait and yearn for a family. They deserve, as all children do, the peace and security that comes with the knowledge of knowing that they belong to someone, that they are being cared for and that they are loved.

This is why I support adoption...because I have seen the sadness in the eyes of the children who wait for moms, I have seen the amazing transformation in children once they have been "claimed" and loved, and because I believe, with all my heart, that that love and belonging is what our lives on this Earth are supposed to be about.

Monday, March 17, 2008

Michael and I began dating seven years ago today. Today, on our "dating" anniversary, we sent the first part of our application to Gladney! It has been over a year since we decided to adopt from Ethiopia. When we made the decision, I never thought it would be a year before we submitted any paperwork. We are both very excited to be moving forward. We are also happy with our decision to use Gladney. I have heard so many positive things about them. We had our phone orientation last week with Judy from Gladney and she was so sweet and helpful.

I had Michael take of picture of me holding the envelope. We took it outside by the mailbox, simply because it made a good background. I actually took it to the post office and didn't leave it in our mailbox at home.

I made Michael pose for a pic too! He thought it was just about the most ridiculous thing, if you can't tell by the picture.

Thursday, March 13, 2008

Blue 7 (a fabulous boutique in OKC) has been carrying the Project 8256 products for several months now. They have been so gracious to do this and we really appreciate their support. They have recently moved to a bigger location, which happens to coincide with their 5th birthday. They are having a big celebration this Saturday (March 15) from 10am-11pm. There will be food, music and more!

They will be featuring the Project 8256 merch and will have Blue 7 shirts for sale. The shirts say “I made out with Blue 7”, and they have very graciously decided to donate $5.00 of the sale of each t-shirt to our adoption fund. AMAZING!

If you live in the OKC metro area, please support Blue 7. They are wonderful people and we know their business will continue to succeed.

In addition to all of the prints they normally carry, Amy has added lots-o-greeting cards and the following beauties:

P.S. Their new location is at 7518 N.May at May and Grand, just south of Starbucks. Plus they have now added a Blue 7 Kids store right next door to their new location!

Friday, February 22, 2008

She was born this morning at 4:59 am. Cheryl was due on 2/17, but continued to teach dance classes all this week. She taught a tap class until less than 9 hours before her daughter was born. Isn't that unbelievable?

Lilly, with her very proud Uncle Michael

Aunt Katie and Miss Lilly

Lilly now brings our total number of nieces and nephews to 14 and they just keep coming.....! Michael comes from a very fertile family. Afterall, he is one of seven!

Thursday, February 14, 2008

5 Minutes For Mom is giving away an Oreck XL Ultra. All you have to do is comment on their blog (linked above) and post a link on your own blog to be entered to win. Our vacuum is completely worthless. In fact, all of our vacuums have been. This one looks AMAZING. If you are in need of one too, go comment on their blog!

Sunday, February 10, 2008

Not me, my house. That’s right. As an update to my previous post, “cluttered ramblings” I have been very busy purging. These were my original goals:

1. Paper purge – I am going to go through the papers piling up on my desk, some of which are obvious trash. I will also go through the mail…boo. If I have time I will move on to the file cabinets.

2. Closet purge – I am going to go through my closet and dresser drawers (even though I just did this in October) and rid myself of any clothes, shoes, socks, etc. that I can.

3. Bathroom purge – I will go through the bathroom and get rid of any old bottles of hair products, makeup, etc. This shouldn’t be too hard since I don’t really keep a lot of these types of products around. Also, Michael organized our bathroom a few months ago, so I won’t have too much work to do (no, ladies you cannot have him). I know there are some items I can toss, however.

I had hoped to accomplish this all in one week, but I didn’t get through all of it.

I did spend a significant amount of time going through paper, bills, mail etc. I managed to get rid of 27 POUNDS OF PAPER!!! There is still a little bit of mail left and our file cabinet is in a really inconvenient place in our garage, so I was unable to go through it.

I went through my closet and got rid of 9 POUNDS OF CLOTHING. Yes, I weighed it. I am neurotic. I went through my sock and underwear drawers and got rid of things I never wear. I still have yet to do the bathroom purge. It is really not going to take me long, but I just couldn’t ever convince myself to do it. All in all, I am feeling pretty good about my progress.

So, did anyone see Oprah last week? She did an episode based on Peter Walsh’s new book, Does This Clutter Make My Butt Look Fat? I never really watch Oprah anymore, but when I read the title of the episode, I was very intrigued. I was even more thrilled when I found out the connection to Peter Walsh. Being the organizational freak that I am, I love him. Who remembers him from Clean Sweep on TLC? The following are a couple of things he said on the show:

"People were contacting me … saying that, 'Suddenly I discovered that by clearing my space, I'm making much healthier food choices and I am starting to lose weight,'"

"Eating more and buying more is an attempt to fill the need for something more," he says. "Until you get those underlying issues dealt with, all the rest is a waste of time."

I really do find this very interesting. It is something I realized a long time ago. When my house is a mess, I feel lethargic and incapable of getting much accomplished. On the flip side, when my house is perfectly spotless…I feel like I can conquer the world.

So now that I have purged 36 pounds of ‘clutter’, will my body be 36 pounds lighter? If only…

Wednesday, February 6, 2008

I am addicted to Diet Coke. I have no problems admitting it. It is sad. I am a little better than I used to be. When I used to be an event coordinator I would sometimes work really long shifts and would be unable to leave to get a diet coke. I would go to Sonic before work and as I was drinking it, I would already be thinking about where I was going to get my next one. I always had to make sure I had a sufficient stash. I still need the stash but I don’t normally think about my next “fix” before I have finished the current one!

Michael and I co-own a children’s performing arts academy and two of our high school students have noticed how much soda we drink. They have been giving Michael a particularly hard time about it recently. They bring him water and have evened ordered water for him at a restaurant and handed it to him to drink. Well, on Monday they took it to a whole new level. They created a contract for each of us. It reads as follows:

Official Contract of the H20 Log (Terms & Conditions)

I Katie Morris agree to drink a minimum of 3 glasses (or bottles) of water (H20) EACH DAY of the month of February (leap year included!) 2008 (starting February 5, 2008). This will be observed by Michael Morris and monitored by the contract draft/advisors, Katie ******* and Laree *****. Provided that you abide by these terms and conditions, you will be rewarded with A NEW CAR! Okay, not really, just kidding, but for real, it will be a SURPRISE prize, but trust us, it will be good.

If I had a scanner I would have included a copy of the entire contract, which includes a logo they created for themselves and a calendar on the back where we are to log our water consumption.

I just love these girls. They are such a joy to be around and always keep me laughing. I am really taking this contract seriously. I don’t want to let them down and I certainly can’t lie about it. More than anything, I want my prize!!!

Monday, February 4, 2008

So, my ever so talented sister now has three etsy shops. That’s right folks, three. Project 8256 was the first. This, as we all know, is the shop where all artwork sold will benefit our adoption and AHOPE For Children. Several months ago she opened amelia mae. She has been selling paper goods, such as gift tags. She is now in the process of moving all of the paper goods to amelia mae paper goods and putting all of her original artwork in the amelia mae shop.

She has created a plethora of silhouettes, some of whom might remind you of the characters who have wondered into your life. She will also be adding some of her AMAZING collages, which she is most well known for. They are really incredible.

Not to leave you wondering about each of the people featured in the silhouette, she has written a lovely, and often humorous, description for each of them.

Meet Penelope...

Penelope recently left her lucrative job in marketing to become a part-time nanny/part-time bartender. In between jobs you can typically find her at her neighborhood coffee shop working on her novel...about a girl who left her lucrative job in marketing to become a part-time nanny/part-time bartender. It's only semi autobiographical.

Meet Edgar...

When Edgar was seven he informed his mother that he had decided to become an entomologist. After referencing a dictionary, and confirming that, yes, her son did want to devote his life to the study of insects, she promptly returned the basketball goal she had purchased him for Christmas. She purchased an ant farm and a book on the mating habits of grasshoppers instead. He still remembers it as his happiest Christmas ever.

Meet Laurel...

Laurel recently chopped off all of her long, beautiful hair. This was immediately after her boyfriend told her it was her best feature. She did this partly as a test, and partly because she was so shocked that he didn't mention her warm heart, her sense of humor, or her obvious love of irony. They are still together. Although he now sweats profusely whenever asked for his opinion.

Meet George...

When George was little he dreamed of being a super hero. Now that he's older and has realized his inability to fly, become instantly invisible or travel back and forth in time, he instead focuses on the day to day heroic activities--smiling at strangers, opening doors for others, and being nice to waiters. Perhaps not a super hero, but a pretty nice guy none the less.

Thursday, January 31, 2008

Well, I realize Thanksgiving was the last time I blogged. I have had an extremely busy past two months. Our business keeps us constantly moving. I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas and New Years. We had a great Christmas and really enjoyed a day of rest and relaxation with our family.

I have had a tiny bit of down time this week and have been concentrating on my home. I am trying to get everything cleaned. We are hoping to have our house on the market by mid April. We are moving to Norman, where our business is located. I want to really deep clean everything, which I will also have to do closer to April, but it would really feel great to have it done now.

I have really been thinking about all of the stuff we have and really all of the stuff we, as Americans, have. I was at home on the computer the other day and looking around my office at all of the things I have, particularly in the closet. Wow. I bet I have more items in my office than people in other countries have in their entire home. What is the point? Why are we the collectors of stuff? Now, I must say, I am not a packrat, hoarder, collector or whatever. I am actually quite the opposite. I don’t feel the need to hold on the most things. I have an annual garage sale and every year I vow to purge my home of all unnecessary items and I still have a lot of stuff. WHY????

I am really going to do it this time. Purge, purge, purge away. Now that I know there will be strangers walking through my house, I have a great goal. I also know that anything I get rid of I don’t have to move.

I started by having Michael go through his underwear and sock drawers, mainly because they were so full (because I was completely caught up on laundry) that they wouldn’t shut. He got rid of quite a lot, especially considering I had him do the same thing in October. He also nicely folded all of his underwear and socks and arranged them very beautifully in their respective drawers. Way to go Michael. What a guy!

So, I am going to concentrate on the following areas this week:

1. Paper purge – I am going to go through the papers piling up on my desk, some of which are obvious trash. I will also go through the mail…boo. If I have time I will move on to the file cabinets.

2. Closet purge – I am going to go through my closet and dresser drawers (even though I just did this in October) and rid myself of any clothes, shoes, socks, etc. that I can.

3. Bathroom purge – I will go through the bathroom and get rid of any old bottles of hair products, makeup, etc. This shouldn’t be too hard since I don’t really keep a lot of these types of products around. Also, Michael organized our bathroom a few months ago, so I won’t have too much work to do (no, ladies you cannot have him). I know there are some items I can toss, however.

Okay, so I will report back next week on my progress. Anyone else want to join in and clear clutter out of their own home?